Halina Ogonowska-Coates

The journalist

Halina Ogonowska-Coates graduated from the University of Canterbury with an MA (Hons) in New Zealand history.

She is a writer, filmmaker, broadcaster and oral historian. Having worked as an independent arts practitioner for fifteen years she has a commitment to telling stories about ourselves, often working with social issue themes.

Born in New Zealand to a Polish mother and a New Zealand father, Halina says that telling other people's stories and asking questions is in her blood - her father Ken is a journalist and has been all his working life. "Like my Dad I'm committed to working in the media field - with a focus on social issues and a deep interest in mental health," says Halina.

Her work includes touring exhibitions, film and radio documentaries (see below) - two of which have focused on the stories of those with experience of mental illness.

‘Open Your Mind' is a 35-minute documentary about people managing mental illness in their everyday life, and ‘Have No Shame' is a touring exhibition and book, which tells the stories of people with experience of mental illness. Both were commissioned by SF New Zealand.

Halina lives in Sumner, Christchurch with her husband and is a passionate South Islander. Her favourite place to unwind and relax is at home where she walks on the beach, reads in bed, listens to music and practises Iyengar yoga.

The project

Halina saw the Media Grants as an opportunity to delve into a mental health project that would utilise her media skills. She produced a narrative media archive about people's personal experience of mental illness and a radio documentary about the experiences of one of those people she interviewed.

The archive holds a radio documentary (featuring Dr Murray Cameron) and transcripts from interviews with the following people:

• Ivan Yeo
• Pam Barnett
• Leo MacIntyre
• Jeanette Van Der Berg

Ivan Yeo sharing his story at the 2007 Showcase

Halina says, "I recorded people's experience of mental illness to build up a transcript file of personal stories that can be drawn on at short notice."

However, it was important that each participant approved his or her transcript.
"Having guidelines and safeguards around the release of the material made the process far more comfortable for the participants," says Halina.

Every six months the transcripts will be revisited to ensure each participant is still happy to make their story available to media. And every two to three years they will be updated so that each personal story will reflect the ongoing changes and awareness in stigma and discrimination.

The idea behind the transcripts is that journalists - who often work to very tight deadlines - don't always have the time to talk in depth with people about their experiences. This can lead to depictions of old stereotypes around mental illness.

Having an archive of readily accessible transcripts of in-depth stories means journalists can draw on these to generate a wider understanding in our communities of the actual experience of mental illness.

Halina found both parts of the project more challenging than she expected. "The whole process - from finding people willing to share their stories to recording and transcribing their experiences - took much longer than I originally anticipated.

"Participants were the ones driving the project," she says, "and I had to take the time to listen to their story on their own terms. Most modern newsrooms do not have the kind of time these deeply personal interviews take, so I'm hoping journalists will find value in the material that is now available to them."

Dr Murray Cameron at the 2007 Showcase

The second part of the project was to produce a radio documentary about the experiences of one person for Radio New Zealand. The documentary features mental health and disability consultant, gardener and compost maker Dr Murray Cameron, who discusses his experience of living with mental illness and the importance of meaningful work in his recovery. The documentary is scheduled for broadcast in 2009.

In 2009 Halina will be working with Victim Support on a project that raises awareness of the redemption/restorative message often missing from talk about victims. She will be continuing her work in the mental health field and starting pre-production on a project about the experience of dying and hospice care.

If you are interested in talking to Halina about a possible workshop, seminar, presentation or about her project, she can be contacted through the media grants programme, email: info   "at" mediagrants.org.nz or directly on email: halina   "at" paradise.net.nz

Previous grants and awards

• 2006: Media Peace Awards: Premier Award, Radio for ‘Restorative Justice'.
• 2005: Qantas Media Award, best radio documentary for ‘Rakiura - Stewart Island'
• 2004: Lotteries Board grant for ‘Born'
• 2003: ‘Remember Me' selected to showcase at the International Alzheimer Congressionale in Barcelona (funded by Ryman Healthcare)
• 2002: Third place, Otago Short Film Festival for ‘The Schminke Box'
• 1999: Winner, Aotearoa New Zealand Mental Health Awards for exhibition ‘Have No Shame' (funded by the SF New Zealand and the Springhill-Frimley Trust
• 1997: Roy and Joan Watson Trust grant for a touring installation ‘I Feel Lucky'
• 1995: Winner, best documentary at the Canterbury Short Film Festival for ‘A Different Blonde' (funded by Creative New Zealand)
• 1993: Lottery Aged grant for book ‘I'm Still Elva Inside'
• 1992: Winner, Bronze Apple in the European History category at the National Education Film and Video Festival (Oakland, California) for ‘Exiles - A Polish Journey'
  Australian Sesquicentennial Gift Trust for Awards in Oral History for ‘Our Chaps Are Dying' (an oral history of J-Force members for the Department of Internal Affairs.

Previous work

Selected Radio New Zealand special feature documentaries

• 2006: Waitaki River,
• 2005: Seasonal Work, On The Bus, Restorative Justice, Café Culture, Holiday Snapshots For Radio
• 2004: Bannockburn, Holiday Snapshots For Radio, The Last Bell, The Waiting Room, Rakiura - Stewart Island
• 2002-03: Silence Talking, A Better Way, On The Run, Naked In The Garden, Meet Maggie-Rose, Facing The Drought

Selected Exhibitions

• 2005: Rakiura
• 2004: Born
• 2002: Remember Me, It Happens At Home
• 1999: Have No Shame
• 1997: I Feel Lucky

Selected Films and Documentaries

• 2002: The Schminke Box
• 1997: Out Into The Blue (NZ International Film Festival)
• 1995: Supermarket
• 1994: A Different Blonde, A Tale Of Two Babies (TVNZ), Someone On My Shoulder
• 1990-91: Exiles - A Polish Journey

Selected Books

• 2008: Krystyna's Story (Shoal Bay Press, 1998, 1999, 2002 and Bridget Williams Book, 1992)
• 2004: Born (New Zealand College of Midwives)
• 2002: Remember Me (Ryman Healthcare)
• 1999: Have No Shame (SF New Zealand)
• 1997: I Feel Lucky (Cancer Society of New Zealand)
• 1995: Invincible Women (Christchurch College of Education)
• 1993: I'm Still Elva Inside (Bridget Williams and the Christchurch Methodist Mission)
• 1985: A Picture Book Of Old Canterbury
• 1984: Boards, Blades And Barebellies (Benton Ross)